TOWN OF TONAWANDA — Kenmore West football coach Rich Harris was concerned the field conditions would hamper his two-headed rushing attack in the most important game of the season.

His worst fear came true as the Blue Devils spun their wheels in the mud all afternoon Saturday at Crosby Field, falling in a Section VI Class AA semifinal against Jamestown, 33-7.

“This was my biggest fear,” Harris said. “They couldn’t run the ball and neither could we. Nobody can run the ball on a field like this, and that’s what happens. It just gets so slippery. ... It’s a shame that’s what a field does.”

The Blue Devils did well enough with the poor field and conditions to end the first half knotted at 7-7 thanks to a 32-yard Chris Reimondo pass from Marcus Lobdell late in the first quarter.

But just five plays into the third quarter, the power for the scoreboard cut out, never to come back. Apparently, it supplied the Blue Devils (7-2, 5-0), too, because six plays later, a Jamestown 1-yard touchdown run initiated a whirlwind of scoring plays from the Red Raiders.

Ken West went three-and-out from their 20 on its ensuing possession, then punted and watched as it was returned to the 12 — a net of negative eight yards. Jamestown (8-1, 4-1) scored on the first play.

Two plays later, Lobdell threw an interception to Branden Kellam, who returned it to the Blue Devils 5-yard line. Spencer DeCinque ran it in two plays later and, just like that, Ken West trailed 27-7.

Jamestown tried going for the jugular on the ensuing kickoff, as DeCinque blasted the ball off a Ken West up-man. The Red Raiders recovered the ball on the Blue Devils’ 47.

Ken West finally earned a stop, but couldn’t do anything with their next possession and had to punt. Jamestown returned it to the Blue Devils’ 21. The only thing stopping the Red Raiders from scoring again in the third quarter was time. They ran one play before the quarter ended.

Jamestown’s average drive start in the third quarter was the Ken West 30-yard line.

“That’s what momentum is in a football game,” Harris said. “Then you’re giving them the ball in short fields that whole period and it just got away from us.”

“Everybody’s used to seeing me and Martin breaking off 40, 50-yard runs for touchdowns,” Lobdell said. “That’s not what you get out here. You get five yards a pop. It’s tough. They’re getting big plays and we’re just trying to gradually drive down the field. It sucks.”

After falling into a huge deficit, the Blue Devils were forced out of their comfort zone on offense and had to pass. It didn’t go well. Lobdell finished 7 of 21 for 116 yards, tossing two interceptions. Martin Bailey managed just 38 yards on 14 carries. The Blue Devils finished with 151 yards on offense.

Jamestown, which was much more affluent with the passing game, had only 116 yards through the air, but worked it efficiently enough with three and four wide outs to keep Ken West guessing. The spread formation weakened the defense for DeCinque to run the ball. The Red Raiders finished with 124 yards on the ground.

“The field conditions, the weather conditions, they made for a tough game,” Lobdell said. “Jamestown adjusted a little better than we did.”